Style

Perspective

Eknath Easwaran writes from the perspective of a follower and admirer of Mahatma Gandhi who is uniquely suited to identify with Gandhi's upbringing and the philosophy and perspective of his countrymen, having shared a very similar background. Easwaran tells his story as it happened historically, but interjects throughout with explanations of the spiritual truths that were guiding the revolutionary, and quotes from both Gandhi's own writing and the writings that inspired and guided him. Since Easwaran is also Indian, he knows both the psychology of the people whom Gandhi was trying to inspire and the spiritual tradition he was calling on. Living in turn of the century India, the British presence was very large, and its oppression of the Indians was overt and oppressive. The Indian people, even as they felt the injustice of British rule, were also demonstrating their own egos in their observation of the...